A Guide to Feeding our Future

Fennel is a very versatile food. It’s often underrated, I believe mostly due to the fact that people don’t know how to enjoy it. Its appearance is overwhelming to some, and is therefore only consumed at restaurants in salads. It’s flavour is like anise, which similar to a mild black liquorice.

Fennel pleasures us with its company early spring to summer depending on your specific region and its climate. Its scent is mild, but aromatic enough to get our digestive juices flowing. It is a member of the Umbellifereae family making its cousins, dill, parsley, carrot and coriander.

I consider fennel to be an amazing food, full of all the good stuff. It’s chalk full of many healing and health promoting properties. Known for its antiseptic and anti-microbial properties, which help to calm inflammation or irritation in the digestive tract and can be helpful in relieving stomach upset, colic, heartburn and IBS. It’s always a good idea to munch on some fennel leaves if you’re feeling nauseous. Or have some fennel tea, if you’re suffering from indigestion.

Fennel has a high Potassium content making it great for decreasing blood pressure, supporting heart conditions and balancing electrolytes. Its high Vitamin A (Beta-carotene) content helps the protection of our tissues and is considered a beautifier. Eat fennel for your skin, mucous membranes, bones, teeth, eyes, hair and nails and also to help the production of T-cell antibodies that fight off infection and promote a healthy immune system. In fact, fennel is also quite high in Vitamin C, so if you’re feeling a little run down, grab some fennel and chomp it up! The list goes on really, fennel contains many health supporting vitamins and minerals.

How to eat fennel:

It’s really quite easy, the root (white part at the bottom) is most often what’s used in pickling or shaved on top of salads, which is a great simple way to introduce this into your diet. I am personally a fan of using the whole thing. You can eat the root, fronds (stems), leaves and seeds. It’s seeds and leaves are most often used medicinally in teas and in Indian cooking. Fennel is my ultimate favourite when steamed in broth with a few other root veggies. Here’s my favourite easy way to receive all the healthy benefits of this phenomenal food:

Poached Fennel With Rainbow Carrots and Bok Choi

Ingredients:

1 medium fennel, washed, leaves and fronds removed and placed to the side

1 bunch small rainbow carrots (rainbow only to beautify the plate), washed and with the tops still on